Unlikely Sources: Equestrian Chic Bracelet

Anyone can go into H&M or Target and come out with something fabulously frivolous, but for the fashionista who treats shopping as a competitive sport, it's way more fun to unearth something from a really unlikely source and then watch your rivals bang their heads on the wall when you refuse to answer, "Where'd you get THAT from?"

One of my favorite fashion moments from NY Fashion Week happened that way when I wore a black metal chain mesh necklace with little rhinestone balls hanging from it. WAY over the top but the rest of my outfit was simple (a black wrap dress with black boots) so it worked. I got this necklace from a house sale from a woman who was selling Dolce and Gabbana for $15 because she couldn't be bothered to pack it up. The necklace was clearly high-end designer, but was unsigned, and it very cleverly straddled the line between great taste and over the top, which is one of my favorite boundaries to play with.

I went to Saks Fifth Avenue for a makeup event and literally had people chasing me down asking where I got the necklace. It was fun to frustrate them with my answers; sometimes I told the truth, sometimes I made ridiculous answers up just to see what the reaction would be.

Here's a fabulous leather cuff bracelet that will have people chasing you down asking the same question. Leather cuff bracelets have gone in and out of style about 42 times in the past ten years, but this one is timeless because it's authentic. It's also TIMELY because it has horseshoe nails on it-- a good luck symbol which I'm sure we can all use in these hard times. It comes from Colonel Littleton, a catalog which offers leather goods "in the Americana tradition," which as far as I can tell means that they're trying to look like a saddle maker. This bracelet costs $45, but it's hand made in the USA out of top quality leather and it will totally be the lagniappe for the equestrian look that NY Fashion Week Fall 2009 was pushing. Or you can wear it with a Chanel suit, rock the contrast and, when they ask you where you got it, make up something good..."See, I had this affair with this cowboy, and..."